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The Board of Selectmen on April 21 received several updates. Newtown Hook & Ladder representative Rick Camejo reported to the selectmen that he believed the signing of a contract to purchase property from Trinity Church to site the company's new headquarters was imminent. After a wait of several months, a lease was finalized permitting Newtown Parent Connection to begin renovations and to eventually occupy one of several duplexes on the former state hospital campus. The selectmen also briefly discussed a new planned facilities study.

Amid cheers from local officials and residents who gathered at Newtown Middle School, town polling officials revealed totals from a first round budget referendum that overwhelmingly approved both a school district and town spending package, along with debt service on capital borrowing for the 2014-15 fiscal year. The Board of Selectmen's municipal budget including debt service on bonding passed 2,571 to 738, while the school district request passed 2,421 to 868 Town Clerk Debbie Halstead confirmed late Wednesday. In all, 3,320 ballots were cast according to polling officials.

Newtown loves a parade, and there is no parade Newtown loves more than the annual Newtown Labor Day Parade. Determining the parade’s theme and its grand marshal are among the priorities Parade Committee volunteers tackle when planning begins in the dark, cold days of winter. “Every year, we receive many suggestions as to what the parade theme should be,” said Newtown Labor Day Parade Committee President Beth Caldwell.

The first "zero increase" budget in recent memory is now before voters in the annual budget referendum. Qualified voters may cast bifurcated, or split town and school budget ballots, in person today, April 22, at Newtown Middle School, until 8 pm. On April 2, the council endorsed sending a request for $111,066,204 to voters to cover town and school services, along with annual debt service for capital projects, which is carried in the Board of Selectmen budget. While the approved budget request represents a 0.91 percent increase in spending above the current year, because of updated revenue projections, the spending plan requires 0.02 percent less in taxation than the current operating budget — and will require a 2014-15 tax rate of 33.31 mills, representing no change, or what is commonly termed “zero increase.”

Turnout at today's budget referendum was lagging about 500 votes behind the number of ballots cast at the same time during the first referendum in 2013 according to a spokesperson staffing the local Registrars of Voters office. At the 2 pm hourly tally, 1,400 ballots had been cast. There were 1,914 budget ballots cast at the same time during the first budget vote in 2013. In the days and weeks leading up to today's referendum, some officials worried privately that the lack of controversy throughout this year's budget process might cause fewer residents to come out and vote. Legislative Council Chair Mary Ann Jacob spent time Tuesday morning and planned to spend more time standing near the Middle School and in Sandy Hook center holding pro-budget signs reminding drivers to make a stop at the polls.

Keno, the unwanted child of Connecticut politics, vilified by gambling opponents and publicly defended by no major political figure, improbably remains alive as the General Assembly begins the last two weeks of the 2014 session. The leaders of the House and Senate, after calling for the repeal of the electronic lottery game after an improving revenue forecast in January indicated the state could afford to forgo new gambling income, now are hedging their bets. "It’s in the budget until somebody finds an alternative funding source,” said Senate President Pro Tem Donald E. Williams Jr. (D-Brooklyn). House Speaker J. Brendan Sharkey (D-Hamden) said he intends to “reserve judgment” on repeal until he sees revenue figures at the end of April, a key month for income-tax collections. Opponents are dumbfounded. After all, Governor Dannel P. Malloy all but disowned it.

The Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection (DESPP) commissioner said April 16 that she has completed her preliminary review of consolidated state police radio dispatching and has formulated a plan for moving forward. Dora Schriro said that all administrative calls, which do not include a call for service by state troopers, will be directed to the local barracks where they are best handled locally by personnel at the barracks, in person or by phone. All 911 calls requiring the dispatching of troopers will continue to be directed to consolidated dispatch locations, in keeping with a growing trend to focus on consolidating 911 calls in the interest of improved public safety, she said. The formation of both a working group of in-house experts, including dispatchers, troopers and sergeants, and an advisory group, comprised of representatives of municipalities, will be employed to elicit feedback on an ongoing basis and address issues and concerns as they arise, she said.

Community, nature, and mentoring all play key roles in raising healthy children, said Two Coyotes Wilderness School Executive Director Justin Pegnataro. He will present the talk “It Takes A Village To Raise A Child” on Wednesday, April 23, at Newtown Prevention Council’s next Parent Speakers Series program.

The Newtown Public Schools Recovery Project has slated its next parent forums, which will be held at Reed Intermediate School and Hawley Elementary School. Each forum will be presented twice, once during the school day and in the evening, to allow for maximum participation. Forums run for one hour. The Reed Parent Forum, “Springtime Stress Management,” is set for Wednesday, April 23. The Hawley Parent Forum, “Video Game Addiction,” will be on Thursday, April 24.